PDF/A is the name for the set of standards covered by ISO 19005. The goal is to provide a storage format for electronic data that will guarantee reliable reproduction at any point in its lifetime. It is a multi-part standard with several levels of compliance which enables users to choose the set of requirements that fit their usage.

Businesses, governments, libraries, archives and other institutions and individuals around the world use PDF to represent considerable bodies of important information. Much of this information must be kept for substantial lengths of time; some must be kept permanently. The future use of, and access to, these objects depends upon maintaining their visual appearance as well as their higher-order properties.

It is important to note that while these standards ensure the reliable storage and visual reproduction of the data, they make no statement about the quality of the data contained in the files. Because such issues as raster data resolution, printing conditions, annotation requirements, number of pages per file, allowed font types, presence of OCR/hidden text, etc. are largely market specific, they are not specified in these standards. Rather, they are felt to be the province of trade associations and/or organizations who have already begun to publish such specifications for these parameters in support of the use of the PDF/A standards.